Usually we have zero complaints about our job here at Super Chevy—writing features and tech, going to shows, and hanging out with great people—seldom can we even pretend we don’t like what we do. But for the first time in a long time, we seriously wished we were just regular car guys going to the 2017 F-Body Nationals. Why? Because if that were the case, we could have maybe, possibly, hopefully taken home this gorgeous 1967 Camaro! But alas, here we are still writing stories and doing the same thing without a ’67 Camaro in the garage. OK, time to move on. Our job is pretty good; life is pretty good; no more complaints from here on out, we promise.
With that little pity-party out of the way, let us tell you about this stellar all-around ’67 Chevy Camaro. Chris Baker, founder of the F-Body Nationals, decided the best way to get his inaugural event off to a good start was to give something away as an incentive for folks to show up. Just like the rest of the show, Chris wasn’t going to skimp out and raffle off a jacket or a $20 coffee shop gift card. Nope, he was going to give away a whole darn car. Lucky for him (knowing Chris, he probably planned it this way) the first F-Body Nationals was going to take place in 2017, which happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Camaro. So what better car to give away than a 1967 Camaro.
With the car decided on, he started organizing the build. Chris got in touch with Alan Pound of A&R Restoration who came on board to do the buildup of the Camaro. The first and most logical step was getting a ’67 Camaro—a task that seemed easy enough at first. Alan found a recently freshened car that seemed like a great starting point. “Seemed” being the key word there because once he started digging into it, the car turned out to need way more work than anticipated. The quick pre-purchase examination hadn’t revealed some poor repairs in the rear quarter-panels, and before long the car saw new quarter-panels, trunk floor, trunk lid, and tail panel from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts. Once the body of the Camaro was in a much more acceptable state, A&R prepped the car for paint. Using Axalta’s Chromapremier paint, they sprayed the ’67 in Bolero Red with an Ermine White bumblebee stripe. A design that will never go out of style!
When they purchased the Camaro it had a worn-out small-block under the hood, which wasn’t going to cut it. Instead, they opted for an SP350/385 Connect & Cruise from Gandrud Chevrolet in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The turn-key package came with a ready-to-go 350 small-block topped with a dual-plane intake manifold sitting between Chevrolet Fast Burn aluminum cylinder heads and fed with a 770-cfm Holley carburetor. Straight out of the box it makes a healthy 385 horsepower and just over 400 lb-ft of torque. The other half of the Connect & Cruise deal is the transmission: a Chevrolet Performance Hydra-Matic 4L65E four-speed automatic paired with a SuperMatic torque converter. The Connect & Cruise’s 24-month/50,000-mile warranty was just icing on the cake for Chris.
There were just a few more details to get the Camaro running and sounding as it should, such as a CFR Performance aluminum radiator and a full Holley Blackheart exhaust system. Feeding power to the rear wheels is a Moser 12-bolt rearend.
Underneath the car, A&R Restorations installed a plethora of Classic Performance Products (CPP) goodies to bring the Camaro’s ride and handling forward a few decades. They opted for CPP’s Stage IV Pro Touring kit that, for the front, includes their tubular upper and lower control arms, antisway bar, and adjustable billet coilovers. For the rear, the CPP kit includes sport leaf springs and Viking adjustable billet shocks. CPP’s 13-inch rotors and dual-piston calipers were fitted to the front of the Camaro while the rear saw the same setup but with 12-inch rotors. The final piece of the Stage IV puzzle is the 500 series power steering box that seriously modernizes the Camaro’s steering feel.
If this 1967 Camaro was really going to take advantage of its modernized powertrain, suspension, and brakes, it needed an equally modern wheel and tire combo. Chris went to American Legend for a set of their three-piece forged Blackhawk wheels, 18×8 in the front and 18×9 out back. As for the rubber, Falken Tires provided a staggered set of their Azenis FK510 tires measuring 225/40ZR18 and 255/40ZR18, front and rear respectively.
As far as the interior goes, it’s a mix of stock with a little extra style here and there. PUI Interiors supplied reproduction stock door panels, center console, and carpet along with custom red and black houndstooth seat covers. Where the stock dials would be are now Classic Instruments Velocity black gauges, and a Shiftworks shifter connects to the 4L65E. Finally, Vintage Car Audio supplied a classic-style head unit and speakers while a Vintage Air A/C system was installed to keep everything cool as can be.
What made this giveaway Camaro even better was the fact that it was a real driver. Chris didn’t have the guys at A&R put the car together and then immediately pass it along to the winner. He drove it. In fact, Chris took the car on the 2017 HOT ROD Power Tour where the Camaro was driven well over a 1,000 miles and shown off at every stop. Then the weekend of the F-Body Nationals the car even made a few exhibition passes down the quarter-mile at Memphis International Raceway, further proving its roadworthiness and performance.
We were never eligible to take the Camaro home with us this past year and probably won’t have any more luck this year. But you still have a chance because rumor has it Chris is scheming up another car to give away, a 1968 Camaro this time for the 2018 show on September 21-22, and we can’t wait to see how it comes out!
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